Hope in Darkness
by CaptainSwanLuver
Summary: Emma is forced to make a devastating choice and then learns the true reason behind Killian's plan.


Title: Hope in Darkness

Author: Steph

Rating: G

Pairing: Hook/Emma

Characters: Hook, Emma, David, Mary Margaret, Nimue

Category: Drama/Romance

Disclaimer: I do this out of a love for this couple. No infringement is intended.

Spoilers: Little bit from 5x11 promo.

Summary: Emma is forced to make a devastating choice and then learns the true reason behind Killian's plan.

Note: After last week, I know I am not mentally or emotionally prepared for tomorrow's mid-season finale. This story comes from my inability to accept or believe that Killian would ever say and do those things to Emma, no matter how much the darkness has consumed him. I believe the love Killian has for Emma would never die and he must have a reason for treating her this way. Based on the interviews I've been reading, I am pretty sure it won't happen like this, but it's my new headcanon so I needed to write it. Hope you enjoy it! ~Steph

…Hope in Darkness: Part 1/1….

Killian stood outside the house they were supposed to share together. This was meant to be their future. But everything changed when he was mortally wounded by Excalibur. He didn't blame Emma for saving him. He'd been angry at first, but he soon realized he would have done the same thing in her position. He would do anything for her.

And that's what his entire plan boiled down to. Saving Emma. But in order to do that, he had to break her heart. It killed him to say the things he did to her. He saw the pain in her eyes and he hated himself for causing it. But he knew he had to do it. It was the only way.

With a flick of his wrist, Killian disappeared from the sidewalk and reappeared inside the house. He found Emma sitting at the kitchen table. Her face was buried in her hands and he could hear her soft cries. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but he couldn't. He needed to keep pretending that he had turned into a monster who could say and do terrible things to her like she meant nothing to him.

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

Emma's head whipped up, her gaze landing on him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We have unfinished business, love," he replied.

Emma stood and came to stand in front of him. "How could you do this, Killian? Bringing all of the Dark Ones back from the Underworld? Why?"

He forced an evil grin. "You know why. To snuff out the light. The light in this world interferes with the darkness. If I rid it of the light, then I can do whatever I please without any interference."

Emma shook her head. "What happened to you?"

"You did this to me," he spat out. "I told you I couldn't resist the darkness and I was right. It took a hold of me and it will never let go."

"No, I refuse to believe that the man I love isn't still somewhere inside of you."

"After everything I've said and done to you, how can you still believe that?" he asked, his eyes sweeping across her face.

"Because I believe in us, I believe in our love. And I believe in you, Killian. You said I stopped believing in you. But when I saved you, I believed that you could fight the darkness and I still believe that."

It took all of his strength not to pull her into his arms and kiss her. The love he felt for her was overwhelming, but he couldn't let himself be deterred from his goal.

"You always have had an awful habit of trusting the wrong men. I suppose some things never change."

Emma swallowed roughly. "You still love me. You could have cast that curse by crushing my heart, but you didn't. You used Nimue to crush Merlin's instead. That speaks volumes, Killian."

He shook his head. "I couldn't let you die in Camelot, Emma. I wasn't done with you. I wanted to make you suffer the way you've made me suffer. And the only way to do that is to make you watch your family die."

Killian nearly choked on the words. He watched as tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"Leave my family alone. This is between you and me," she responded, her jaw tightening.

Killian forced a maniacal grin. "Sorry, love, I'm afraid I can't do that. In order to eliminate the light, I must eliminate them. You get to watch everyone you love die."

Emma flicked her wrist and a sword appeared in her hands. Her jaw clenched, as she held the sword out at him. "I won't let you hurt them! I will protect my family, even if I have to kill you to do it!"

The words tore at her heart, but she couldn't let him hurt the people she loved. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the man she loved no longer existed inside of him.

Killian pulled Excalibur from its sheath and held it out to her. "Take it, Swan. We both know the sword in your hands will do me no harm."

Emma stared at him for a long moment. "You got it back from Rumple."

He laughed. "Of course, I did. You didn't honestly think I would let the one thing that can control me, the one thing that can kill me, stay in the possession of the one I despise the most, did you?" He paused and then repeated, "Take it."

Emma eyed him warily, before dropping her sword and taking Excalibur from him.

"This must be a trick. Why would you give me the means to control you, the means to kill you?"

He smirked. "Not a trick. A test. I want to see if you really will kill me to protect your family. Or are you all bark and no bite?"

Emma felt the tears roll down her cheeks. "Please don't make me do this, Killian," she whispered.

"The Dark Ones are descending upon those you love as we speak, Emma. The only way to stop them is to kill me."

"I can't!" she screamed.

"You have to!" He sucked in a breath, as he stared into her eyes. "Do you know why everyone you've ever loved has abandoned you? Because you're nothing, Emma. You've been nothing from the moment you were born."

"That's not true!"

Killian got up close to her, his breath warm on her skin. This was breaking his heart, but he knew he didn't have a choice. He had come too far to stop now.

"It is true! You're nothing! That's why you were so easy for me to manipulate. And now you can't even do the one thing that needs to be done. You can't even protect your own family!"

"Please, Killian, stop this!"

"You're the only one who can stop this. How do you think it will feel to watch your parents die before your eyes? To watch your son?"

Killian could barely say the vile words. He felt bile rise up in his throat as he forced them past his lips.

"How can you be so cruel?" she asked softly. "They all care about you. You care about them."

He cocked his head, a lopsided grin plastered on his lips, as he waved his hand at her. "There you go confusing us again. That was your Killian Jones. He let love control him. He was weak. I am nothing of the sort. I will delight in causing you pain like you caused me. Soon, you'll go back to being that little lost girl who had no one."

Something in Emma snapped. She suddenly shook her head violently, as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I won't let you do this!" she screamed, as she stepped forward and plunged Excalibur into his chest.

Killian's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open for a long moment, as Emma let out an anguished scream.

He stumbled backwards and landed on his back, as a pool of blood spread across his chest, surrounding the sword.

Emma stood frozen to her spot, shocked by what she had just done. After what felt like an eternity, she finally forced herself to move. She dropped to her knees. Emma pulled Killian's head into her lap and cradled him in her arms, as she stroked his cheek.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears spilling down her face.

Killian met her eyes, replying weakly, "You did what needed to be done. You did what I needed you to do."

Emma's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

He swallowed hard, as he winced at the pain. "This was all part of my plan, Emma. I needed you to kill me."

Emma stared at him in disbelief. "I…I don't understand, Killian. What are you talking about?"

Killian licked at his dry lips, as he felt the life slowly draining from him. "My plan was never to destroy the light, Emma. It was to destroy all of the darkness, once and for all."

"How?" she asked, her mind reeling from the truth.

She knew she had been right to keep her faith in him. The man she fell in love with never left.

He sucked in a ragged breath. "Nimue is the original Dark One. To eliminate the darkness, we must eliminate her once and for all. I knew the only way to do that was to summon her and all the Dark Ones to Storybrooke from the Underworld."

"That's why you brought them here?"

He nodded. "Aye."

She shook her head, her voice emerging broken with emotion. "Why did you want me to kill you, Killian?"

He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, the pain sweeping through him. "The darkness needs a vessel. It can't be contained in just any human. To contain this amount of darkness, you need a Dark One. I chose to be that Dark One."

Emma felt her breath catch in her chest. "You chose to sacrifice yourself to save us all from the darkness once and for all?"

Killian nodded. "I knew that this needed to end. The darkness destroyed too many people, too many lives for far too long. It needed to end once and for all and I knew I could do it. But I also knew that if I told you of my plan you would try to stop me."

Emma stroked his cheek lovingly. "Of course I would try to stop you, Killian! I love you!"

He bobbed his head. "I love you too, Emma. I never stopped. Not even for a moment. But I needed you to believe the man you loved was gone. I needed you to believe I despised you and I needed to make you despise me. I needed to push you to the point that you felt you had no choice but to kill me in order to protect your family."

Emma wiped at a tear on her cheek with her knuckle. "So all of those awful things you said to me…they were all lies?"

Killian nodded his head, as he reached out and took her hand in his. "I didn't mean a word, Emma. I am so sorry I hurt you like that, love. It tore me apart to say those awful things to you, but it was the only way. I needed you to believe you meant nothing to me so that you would do what needed to be done."

Emma squeezed his hand in hers. "I knew that the love we share couldn't just disappear. And I knew you could fight the darkness, Killian."

Killian managed a smile. "You never stopped believing in me. But I knew, Emma, that one day the darkness would take hold of me. I fought it off because of you, because I knew what I had to do. I also knew that it would only be a matter of time until I was consumed by it. But now I've stopped that from ever happening. And after today, the darkness will be gone from you, Emma. You can return to the woman you were always meant to be."

"You saved me, Killian," she whispered.

"I'd do anything for you, love," he breathed.

He felt his heart slowing and his breathing grow shallow.

"No!" Emma screamed. "Please, don't leave me, Killian. There has to be another way. We can find a way to save you and rid you of the darkness."

Killian managed to shake his head. "You can't save me this time, Emma. You need to let me go. You need to let me do this. I have done terrible, unspeakable things in my life. Please…let me do the right thing this time."

Emma shook her head. "No, you're not that man anymore, Killian. You're a hero, you've helped so many people. It can't end like this. We can't end like this. What about our future?"

"Emma, listen to me, please," he said, his voice a whisper. "It's up to you now. You must take Excalibur and leave me. Find Nimue and pierce her with Excalibur. Doing so will tether her and all of the darkness to it. Then you must bring it back here and fill me with the darkness. I will be the vessel."

Emma squeezed her eyes closed. "I can't do it, Killian."

"Aye, that you can. You can do it because you know it's the right thing to do."

Emma inhaled and exhaled deeply. "I don't know how to say goodbye to you," she said softly.

"Then don't," he replied, managing a weak smile. "Say until we meet again."

Emma leaned down and placed a tender kiss to his lips, as she cupped his face in her hands. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he breathed, his very last breath.

Emma's eyes widened before she let out a scream and pressed her forehead against his. Tears streamed down her face and spilled onto his.

She had killed the man she loved.

…

It felt like hours passed. Emma sat on her kitchen floor, Killian's body cradled in her arms. She kept brushing her fingers through his hair and stroking his cheek gently. She felt him growing colder with each passing moment.

Suddenly, she heard the front door swing open and the sound of footsteps grew close.

"Emma! What happened?!" she heard her father say.

"Oh my God!" Mary Margaret screamed, at she stared at her daughter holding Killian's lifeless body.

Emma didn't look up. Her gaze remained focused on Killian, as she spoke barely above a whisper. "I killed him."

Mary Margaret and David exchanged a stunned look.

"I think she's in shock," David finally said.

Mary Margaret kneeled down beside Emma. She lifted her hand and touched her shoulder. Emma didn't react.

"Emma, sweetheart, tell us what happened. Let us help you."

Emma swallowed hard, as she finally met her mother's eyes. "I had to kill him."

"Why, Emma? Tell us what happened," David said.

"He said he was going to kill the people I loved. He said he was going to kill you two and Henry."

"You did it to protect us?" Mary Margaret said.

Emma nodded, her salty tears hitting her lips. "Yes."

"You did what you had to do, Emma," David said. "He wasn't the same man you fell in love with."

"You don't understand," she said. "It was all an act. It was all a lie."

Mary Margaret's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Emma looked down at Killian. The color had drained from his face. "He was only pretending to be consumed by the darkness. He didn't mean any of the things he said to me. He said them because he needed me to hate him, he needed me to be pushed to the point where I would do whatever was necessary to protect my family."

"Why?" David asked.

Emma met his gaze. "Because his plan wasn't to destroy the light, it was to destroy all of the darkness, once and for all."

"How?" Mary Margaret asked, as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Nimue was the original Dark One, so he needed her to return to this world in order to eliminate the darkness, which is why he opened the portal to the Underworld."

"I still don't understand what his plan was," David said.

"Kill Nimue with Excalibur and tether her, along with all of the darkness, to it," she said.

"But Emma," Mary Margaret began softly, "Why did he need you to kill him?'

Emma stared down at the man she loved with all her heart, her voice emerging broken with emotion. "Killian decided to sacrifice himself. The darkness needs a vessel. But that amount of darkness can't be contained inside just any human. It needs a Dark One."

David shook his head. "Hook sacrificed himself to get rid of the darkness once and for all?"

Emma nodded, as she met their eyes again. "I know what I must do now. I must find Nimue and end this. I have to finish what Killian started."

"We'll help you, Emma," Mary Margaret said.

Emma shook her head. "No, I need to do this on my own." She paused and then added. "And then I'm going to get Killian back."

Mary Margaret and David exchanged a worried glance.

"Emma, I know this is difficult, but Hook is gone," David said. "When you fill him with the darkness, his body and soul will go to the Underworld. You can't bring him back. You can't save him this time."

"The hell I can't," she said, her voice steely with determination. "I refuse to let things end like this."

Mary Margaret sighed. "Emma, the last time you saved Hook, it set all of these events into motion. You need to see the possible consequences of your actions. You need to let him go this time."

Emma glared at her mother. "You mean the way you let David go? You split your heart in two so you wouldn't lose him. I'm not going to give up on Killian."

David shook his head. "I don't know what you can do, Emma."

"I know what to do," she said. "When Killian is taken to the Underworld, I'm going to follow him there. He will live on in the Underworld. And I will find a way to bring him back."

Mary Margaret let out a breath. "Even if you could, what about the darkness within him? In the Underworld, the darkness won't truly be destroyed, Emma. It will be only contained within him. Emma, Killian wouldn't have been able to resist the darkness forever. It would have eventually consumed him. And now he is filled with all of the darkness that has ever existed. There's no telling what that will do to him."

"I will find a way to rid him of the darkness," she said firmly. "This won't be over until I do that and get back the man I love."

Mary Margaret and David exchanged concerned looks, but didn't say another word.

Emma leaned down and placed a soft kiss to his lips. "I love you, Killian. I'm going to bring you back to me. You're going to return to the man I fell in love with and then we can have the future we dreamt of."

…

Emma stood in the middle of the street outside Granny's. She held Excalibur in her hands and watched as the Dark Ones, led by Nimue, marched toward her. Emma heard footsteps behind her and spun around to find her parents, Regina, Belle, Robin, and Rumple behind her.

Her jaw tightened. "What are you doing here? I need to do this on my own."

Regina scoffed. "You didn't honestly believe that we were going to allow you to take on an army of Dark Ones by yourself, did you?"

"Emma, you tried to fix things on your own before and look where that got you," her mother said.

David nodded. "Before you became the Dark One, we all worked together. And that's why we succeeded against so many dark forces."

Emma sighed in defeat. "Fine, but if things go wrong, I need you to leave. I need you to protect Henry and Neal. Promise me."

Mary Margaret bobbed her head. "We promise."

Emma turned back around and found herself face to face with Nimue. There was a sea of Dark Ones behind her. Emma held Excalibur up to her.

"I am going to end this once and for all," Emma said.

Nimue smiled at her. "Oh, Emma, you don't want to do that. No, deep down, you want to join us. You hunger for the darkness, just like we do."

Emma shook her head. "No, that's not true. Killian died so I could put an end to the darkness and I will not fail him."

Nimue nodded. "Ah, Killian. What a disappointment he ended up being."

Emma raised Excalibur up, but as she did, Nimue waved her hand. Emma and everyone behind her went flying in the air. They all landed with a thud on the pavement. Everyone except Emma was knocked unconscious. Emma felt the air leave her lungs momentarily, but she recovered quickly. She shook her head, as she slowly stood up. Excalibur lay at Nimue's feet.

Nimue laughed. "It looks as if your reinforcements leave a lot to be desired."

Emma moved toward Nimue, her gaze focused on Excalibur. She knew she needed to distract her so she could gain possession of it again.

She came to stand in front of Nimue. "You and I have a lot in common," Emma said.

Nimue nodded. "Of course we do. We are sisters in darkness. You need only to stop fighting it. Embrace the darkness, Emma."

"I just killed the man I love, just like you killed the man you loved," Emma said.

Emma watched Nimue's face soften almost imperceptibly. "It was necessary."

"How did it feel?" Emma asked. "Watching the life seep from his body?"

"I took no pleasure in it," Nimue replied, a sadness present in her voice.

"He loved you until the very end," Emma said.

"It was his weakness. Love is always a weakness."

Emma was hoping to use that to her advantage right now.

"He told me your story," Emma said. "The love you two shared could have overcome anything."

"You've been listening to fairytales for far too long. In them, good always triumphs over evil. I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen anymore."

"What if I told you I could bring Merlin back to you? And he would accept you for who you are. You could be together," Emma said.

Nimue shook her head. "I'd say it's impossible."

"Is it?" Emma asked. "You returned from the Underworld. Merlin was doomed to the same fate when he passed. Why then can't he return too?"

Nimue stared at Emma for a long moment. "Stop playing games."

"I'm not. He's here, Nimue. You can have a second chance with him."

"If it's true, then have him show himself," Nimue said.

"Turn around," Emma replied.

Nimue stared at Emma for a long moment. She was at war within herself. She slowly turned and each Dark One turned with her.

Emma used the opportunity to quickly bend down and pick up Excalibur. She lunged at Nimue and plunged the sword into her back. Nimue's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Emma watched as she slowly fell forward and landed on the ground. The Dark Ones fell along with her.

Excalibur stood up straight out of Nimue's back. Suddenly, swirls of black swept up around Nimue and every Dark One. The ribbons of black enveloped each Dark One and then moved to Excalibur, causing them to vanish. Soon, all that was left was Nimue. The blacks swirls surrounded her and then a moment later, she was gone. Excalibur clanged to the ground.

Emma squeezed her eyes closed and breathed a sigh of relief. She heard the others slowly standing up behind her.

"What happened?" Mary Margaret asked, as she rushed towards Emma.

"I did it," Emma said. "I tethered the darkness to Excalibur."

"What about you, Emma? What about your darkness?" David asked.

Emma knelt down and picked up Excalibur. She waved her hand over it and then felt a surge go through her. The ribbons of black emerged from Emma and moved into Excalibur. When Emma looked down, she found herself in the same clothes she had worn that night she took on the darkness.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret said.

Emma slowly smiled and then turned to her parents, enveloping them in a hug.

"I'm back," she whispered.

Her parents hugged her tightly, before she pulled back. She looked at Excalibur in her hands.

"The darkness can't stay in Excalibur. It's too powerful and dangerous. Someone could use it. Killian said the only way to destroy it once and for all is to contain it in a vessel. That vessel is him," she said softly.

"We're coming with you," David said.

Emma shook her head. "No, I need to do this on my own."

Regina groaned. "Have you learned nothing?"

Mary Margaret sighed. "Emma, you need to let Killian go. You need to put the darkness inside of him and then say goodbye."

Emma shook her head. "I've had to let go too many times in my life. I've had to say goodbye more times than I can count. I can't do it again. I won't."

"Emma, think about what happened when you went against Hook's wishes last time. He chose to make this sacrifice. You need to respect that," David said.

Emma felt tears well up in her eyes. "I came to this town to bring back everyone's happy endings. Well, now I want my own happy ending. This all started because of me. I chose to take on the darkness and now Killian is gone because of it. But being the Dark One taught me one thing. I'm allowed to fight for what I want. I don't need to sacrifice my own happy ending. You two and Neal and Henry and Killian are my happy ending. It's not complete without the man I love. I won't give up without a fight."

Mary Margaret let out a breath. "There's no use in trying to talk you out of this, is there?"

Emma shook her head. "No, there isn't."

Her mother bobbed her head and pulled her into an embrace. "Then I'll just say be careful."

David placed his hand on her shoulder. "Be safe, Emma."

Emma nodded and then pulled back. She turned away from them and headed to her house.

…

Emma found Killian lying in the kitchen where she had left him. His face was pale and when she knelt down beside him, he was cold to the touch.

She brought her hand to his cheek and stroked it lovingly. "I completed what you started, Killian. The Dark Ones are gone and the darkness is gone from me too. The only thing left to do is put it all into you."

Emma inhaled and exhaled deeply. She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you," she whispered. "We will be together again. I promise."

Emma straightened and held Excalibur over him. She waved her hand and watched as the swirls of black emerged from it. They surrounded Killian's body and then disappeared into it. And then in a cloud of black smoke he and Excalibur vanished.

Emma felt the tears streaming down her cheek as she stared down at the empty space before her.

But she knew what she needed to do next.

…

Emma stood at the pond, clutching Killian's ring that hung around her neck.

"I'm coming, Killian," she whispered.

This pond was the only way for her to get to the Underworld. She took out a small bottle that contained Rumple's blood. She had figured out that Killian needed the blood of someone who had been to hell and back in order to open the portal to the Underworld. So she had gone to Rumple and gotten some of his blood. Emma uncapped the bottle and was about to pour it into the pond, when she heard footsteps behind her.

Emma spun around to find her parents, Regina, Robin, Belle, and Rumple.

"You need to go," Emma said.

"We're going with you," Regina replied.

"No, it's too dangerous. You need to stay and protect Henry and Neal."

David shook his head. "The Dark Ones are gone. Henry and Neal are with Granny. They'll be fine."

Mary Margaret nodded. "We're a family, Emma. Yes, we are screwed up and we've made a ton of mistakes, but we are still a family. All of us. And family sticks together. If you're going to the Underworld, then so are we. We'll help you bring back Hook."

Emma smiled tenderly at them. "You would do that for me?"

David grinned at her. "After everything you've done for us, Emma, I think it's the least we can do."

"Even after everything I've put you through? The lies and the manipulation."

"We know why you did what you did. Your intentions were good," her mother said.

"It was your tactics that left a lot to be desired," Regina added. "That's why you need us."

Emma sucked in a breath. "I have no idea what to expect," she said.

Mary Margaret took her daughter's hand in hers and squeezed. "Whatever happens, we'll get through it together."

Emma smiled and nodded. She took a deep breath and then turned toward the pond. She poured the blood into the pond and watched as it spread across it. A moment later, a boat appeared out of the fog and sailed toward them. It stopped in front of them. Emma exchanged a look with her parents, before slowly moving forward and stepping onto the boat. Everyone followed after her.

Emma held Killian's ring in her hand, as the boat floated into the fog.

"Until we meet again, Killian," she whispered, before they were plunged into darkness.

…...…...The End…...…...…...

If there is interest and I can figure out how to write it, I might consider a follow-up to this. We'll see. Thanks for reading! ~Steph


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